Cite the dated ledger entry first; use the annual distillery account as internal corroboration. Contextualize the historical terminology rather than reproducing it gratuitously.
On December 25, 1799, Mount Vernon’s cash ledger recorded a $1.16 payment to enslaved workers at the distillery for labor performed during the holidays; the annual distillery account repeated the charge.
Verified against manuscript ledger p. 42 (scan PDF p. 47) and official transcription p. 48. Annual-account repetition verified at manuscript ledger p. 45 (scan PDF p. 50) and transcription p. 51.
The ledger proves holiday payment in this instance. It does not establish that the workers were free, ordinarily wage-paid, identified by name in this entry, or performing any one specific distilling task that day.
The same charge appears first in the dated cash ledger and again in the summarized annual distillery account. The complete manuscript and complete official transcription were both checked, and the locators were matched page by page.
Used and link-verified on the public history page “Revolution and the Early Republic — Rum, Whiskey, Taxation, and Federal Power” on 2026-09-02. Retain the recorded qualifications in future revisions.